nielsen ratings
(fast national numbers for friday, december 10, 2010)

Here are the highlights of the 12 ad-sustained programs that aired in primetime on the broadcast networks last night:

ABC (5.08 million viewers, #3; adults 18-49: 1.4, #1) was the network to beat among adults 18-49 on Friday with its mix of "Supernanny" (4.58 million viewers, #8; adults 18-49: 1.2, #T5), "Primetime: What Would You Do?" (4.89 million viewers, #6; adults 18-49: 1.5, #T1) and "20/20" (5.78 million viewers, #5; adults 18-49: 1.5, #T1).

A competitive second place then went to NBC (5.67 million viewers, #2; adults 18-49: 1.3, #2) with a repeat of "Minute to Win It" (4.71 million viewers, #7; adults 18-49: 1.2, #T5) followed by a two-hour "Dateline NBC" (6.14 million viewers, #4; adults 18-49: 1.4, #3).

Next up was CBS (7.36 million viewers, #1; adults 18-49: 1.2, #3) with its all-repeat lineup of "The Mentalist" (6.72 million viewers, #3; adults 18-49: 1.0, #T8), "CSI: NY" (7.98 million viewers, #1; adults 18-49: 1.3, #4) and "Blue Bloods" (7.38 million viewers, #2; adults 18-49: 1.1, #7).

Meanwhile, The CW (2.40 million viewers, #4; adults 18-49: 1.0, #4) offered up fresh installments of "Smallville" (2.57 million viewers, #9; adults 18-49: 1.0, #T8) and "Supernatural" (2.24 million viewers, #11; adults 18-49: 1.0, #T8).

And finally, a repeat of "The Good Guys" (1.89 million viewers, #12; adults 18-49: 0.6, #12) led into the season finale of "The Good Guys" (2.32 million viewers, #10; adults 18-49: 0.7, #11) on FOX (2.11 million viewers, #5; adults 18-49: 0.6, #5).

Week-to-week changes (adults 18-49): Dateline NBC (100.00%), Supernanny (9.10%), Primetime: What Would You Do? (7.10%), Supernatural (0.00%), The Good Guys (0.00%), Smallville (-9.10%), 20/20 (-21.10%).

In late-night metered market ratings, NBC's "Leno" (3.3/8) took top honors over CBS's "Letterman" (2.8/7) and ABC's "Nightline" (3.1/7). Rounding out the night then were "Kimmel" (1.5/4) on ABC "Ferguson" (1.4/4) on CBS and "Fallon" (1.7/5) and "Daly" (1.1/4) on NBC.

Here are the highlights of the 13 ad-sustained programs that aired in primetime on the broadcast networks one year ago (12/11/09):

NBC (7.96 million viewers, #1; adults 18-49: 1.7, #1) claimed the top spot on Friday thanks to new episodes of "Law & Order" (8.77 million viewers, #2; adults 18-49: 1.7, #T2), "Dateline NBC" (9.27 million viewers, #1; adults 18-49: 2.0, #1) and "The Jay Leno Show" (5.84 million viewers, #4; adults 18-49: 1.5, #4).

ABC (5.57 million viewers, #2; adults 18-49: 1.5, #2) then snagged the silver with its mix of "Supernanny" (4.80 million viewers, #7; adults 18-49: 1.4, #T5), "Ugly Betty" (4.63 million viewers, #8; adults 18-49: 1.3, #T7) and "20/20" (7.26 million viewers, #3; adults 18-49: 1.7, #T2).

Next up was CBS (4.79 million viewers, #3; adults 18-49: 1.2, #3) which fell to third with its combination of "Yes, Virginia" (5.27 million viewers, #6; adults 18-49: 1.3, #T7) and repeats of "The Big Bang Theory" (4.55 million viewers, #9; adults 18-49: 1.4, #T5), "Medium" (4.08 million viewers, #10; adults 18-49: 1.1, #10) and "NUMB3RS" (5.38 million viewers, #5; adults 18-49: 1.2, #9).

Meanwhile, FOX (2.41 million viewers, #4; adults 18-49: 0.9, #4) offered up a new "Dollhouse" (2.72 million viewers, #11; adults 18-49: 1.0, #11) followed by a second hour of "Dollhouse" (2.09 million viewers, #12; adults 18-49: 0.8, #12).

And finally, a full night of "Smallville" (1.36 million viewers, #13; adults 18-49: 0.5, #13) repeats of The CW (1.36 million viewers, #5; adults 18-49: 0.5, #5) rounded out the evening.

Source: Nielsen Media Research